Fritz returns from injury

Jockey Natasha Fritz will ride for the first time in 2015 on Friday at Hazel Park after breaking her tibia in a March training accident.

Fritz, 27, was Hazel Park’s third-leading Quarter Horse jockey by wins last year, and topped the Quarter Horse standings during the final Mount Pleasant Meadows meet in 2013. While primarily a Quarter Horse rider in Michigan and Indiana, Fritz has also taken occasional Thoroughbred mounts and has won stakes on Arabians.

“I’m on cloud nine, super excited to be back in the saddle,” Fritz said on Tuesday. “I worked some horses this morning at Hazel from the gate and it felt great. I'm more than ready.”

Fritz will be aboard Quarter Horses VC Pistol Whipped and Dorothys Doll on Friday, both for trainer Tim Eggleston. She rode Dorothys Doll to seven wins from 2013 to 2014.

The jockey and trainer have been a potent combination, with six wins together during last year’s Hazel Park meet, second-best among the track’s Quarter Horse jockey-trainer combos in 2014.

Fritz credited Eggleston and his wife, Keli, for much of her success in the saddle, as well as for their assistance during her time on the sidelines.

“I was stuck on Tim and Keli Eggleston’s couch,” she said about her month in a full-leg cast. “Thank the lord for them, because they helped me with everything.”

Fritz, whose mother is Indiana-based Quarter Horse jockey Julie Veltman, was cleared for race riding last week after a month of galloping. While catching up to Hazel Park’s Quarter Horse leader Angel Stanley might be a tall task for 2015, Fritz saidthat regaining her spot at the top of Michigan’s standings next year was a long-term goal.

“I want a safe rest of the meet and to be able to be in the money,” she said. “I’m confident and hungry for wins.”